


crush

by sgt_jerk



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Baby turd has a chat with adult turd about being lonely and famous, Gen, Mentor/Protégé, Multi, Relationship Advice, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-12
Updated: 2017-08-12
Packaged: 2018-12-14 09:31:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11780313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sgt_jerk/pseuds/sgt_jerk
Summary: Victor has a coffee meeting with Yuri, to dispense some crucial life advice.Things don't go exactly as he expects, considering that all is fair in love and ice skating.





	crush

**Author's Note:**

> More of my YoI fic will be published first thing at Flamecon in Brooklyn! I'm making a-hand printed zine with other YoI content. Come say hi to me and my boyfriend at table M129!  
> After the con, I will be posting all relevant works here.

Victor was swiping through a long lock screen of notifications, when the display blanked, to show the call incoming screen. Yurio’s face, wrapped in a blue hoodie, scowled out from the reciever.          

      “…Hello?”

      “ _Finally_ , do old men only respond to phone calls? Have you ever even opened WhatsApp?” Victor retracted away from his cell phone. Yurio, about as unhappy as he always was. There was really only ever one way to deal with him when he was this offended. He cleared his throat, fixed his shoulders, and put on his brightest tone.

      “Yurio! Of course I do! I have to speak with Yuuri somehow while he’s at home!” He could distinctly feel an exaggerated eye-roll over the phone.

      “I bet you still clear out your voice mail on a schedule. Do you use a day planner or something?”

      “What’s wrong with a-“

      “Never mind! I’ve been trying to talk to you for like, three hours!” This struck him as…odd. Normally he would’t be up until at least noon if he didn’t have training.

      “I was in a meeting with the people from BBC, Yurio but I’m-“

      “Typical. Listen, are you at the rink?”

      “Nobody’s training t-“

      “Whatever! If you get me a cappuccino I’ll meet you near your place in ten.” There was no world where he wasn’t going to get the kid a decaf cappuccino.

      “Uh, well, sure Yurio! What can I help with?”

      “If I could tell you over the phone, I would, dumbass,”

If he was going to go on this way, it might actually be serious. Pulling away the receiver from his ear, he shouted in his brightest tone into the speaker.

      “See you soon, _Koneko-chan_!!”

He paused for a second before hanging up as an anguished groan rattled out of the other end of the iPhone.

 

* * *

 

    Yuri was already there, seated at a comically small table, and still bundled in his sporty Team Russia jacket. He waved, and tried not to over-analyze the teen’s body language too much while he purchased decaf coffees for the both of them. It wasn’t as if Yurio hadn’t texted him about a wide variety of topics ranging from whether or not training was at 10:30 or 11 (not urgent) to which silk tracksuit would match best with tiger print (very urgent).

      “Took you long enough,” Yurio said with a groan, as Victor set the coffees on the table. He swallowed an offended look and folded his hands around his coffee.

      “Well, I couldn’t make the barista go faster.” He made sure to shoot him a calm, if genial look. “I’m all ears, go for it.”

He looked imminently nervous, and was cycling his fingers over and over themselves, fingertips rubbing against each knuckle as it passed.

      “I mean, it’s not. It’s not really a problem, per se.”

      “That’s okay. It doesn’t have to be a problem.”

      “No like….I’m not sure if you’ll be able to help.”

      “Yuri. If you don’t tell me what ‘it’ is, I can’t do much of anything.” His hands clenched and folded together, still. Victor tried to coach his expression into one that didn’t betray his obvious curiosity. He was easy to scare off, if he thought that you couldn’t be trusted to take him seriously.

      He sighed lightly, tugging the hood of his sweatshirt closer to his ears.

      “It’s about someone I….know.”

      “Know in what way?”

He looked shockingly like he’d swallowed his own tongue.

      “Know, like. Through skating.”

Victor squinted.

      “Through…..skating. What kind of person? Another skater, a coach, a repo-“

      “Another skater. Not a coach, ugh.” Victor breathed a minute sigh of relief. At least it wasn’t him.

      “Can you tell me…who it is? I can’t really help you if you don’t give me some hints.”

      “I’d rather not.”

      “Okay, the situation then.”

      “It’s kinda specific.”

      “Okay,” He breathed deep, and fixed him with an unwavering stare. “I promise not to tell anyone, ever.”

He screwed up his mouth, as if trying to keep his tongue from jumping out.

      “I think I like someone who I hated before.”

There were…..a good number of people who Yurio hated. Chris, Yuuri, JJ, almost all of the other coaches and trainers, including Victor himself, probably. The qualification didn’t surprise him, and didn’t narrow down Yurio’s description much.

      “I suppose that’s a start.”

      “A start?” He could practically see the young man bristle visibly. “What’s that supposed to mean?!”

       Victor gingerly sipped his drink, trying to weigh his words. “I just mean that you don’t exactly show a lot of…warmth to others,” He could distinctly see him getting red in the face, whether from anger or embarrassment it was impossible to say. Time to proceed with caution. “…And if I’m going to help you, I need more of a hint.”

      Yurio seethed, and settled back in his chair. He wasn’t pouting, which was a good sign, he supposed.

      “I don’t want you to be offended.”

      “Why would I be offended?” Yurio groaned in response, shading his eyes with a hand.

      “Jesus, fine, it’s Yuuri.”

      “It’s wh- _oh_.” He felt his face blanch. Yuuri, of all people? He could understand how almost anyone could fall for his fiancee, as talented and charming as he was, but _Yurio_? He was a teen, practically still a kid, and….that was why he’d been so nervous. Naturally. He'd truly have his work cut out for him this time.

      “…Victor?” Yuri had sunk even deeper into his sweatshirt, and was peering out from under his bangs at him.

He’d never seen him look really anxious before. He shook himself a little, cleared his throat, and tried to arrange his expression into a more neutral one.

      “I…can’t say I’m not shocked.”

      “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t even know…I don’t think I’ve ever really had time to have a crush on anyone before.”

A memory tickled in the back of his mind. Of long evening practices, running into early morning warm-ups and training, and some classwork in the middle. He was lucky, back then, to be able to see friends outside of the rink on an off day. School socials and weekend trips with kids his age were nearly always out of the question. He could remember the feeling of being lonely, but not knowing what the feeling was.

The poor kid. He sighed, taking a long sip of cappuccino.

      “It’s not your fault, Yurio. I’m not angry, just a little surprised.” He leaned forward, propping his elbows on the cafe table. “Why don’t you tell me how it started, and what happened?”

      “Why should I?”

      “Because I said so, and because I want to help.” Victor shot him his sunniest grin. There was nothing that could dispel a crush like having to explain your reasoning about it, and he had a sneaking suspicion that once Yurio could be made to explain himself, it might help settle down some of his obsession with his own change of feelings.

      In typical fashion, he half-pouted, and rolled his eyes.

      “I guess it started when we were all training for the Grand Prix. I’d started thinking about how I never thought that Yuuri would make it to the semi-finals, or would even you as a coach,” He drained the remainder of his drink, crushing the cup for good measure. “And I guess I was kind of….impressed. He just worked really hard, and even though he doesn’t deserve a high-level coach like you, he still did train a lot, I guess. So I started to watch some of his earlier videos, and I was remembering how far he’d come. I dunno,” He shrugged, folding his arms tight to his chest. “He’s just not like most competitors. So I wanted to talk to him more, but I couldn’t. I kept trying to figure out ways to tell him I didn’t hate him anymore, and they all came out weird and stupid.”

      “You wanted to….talk to him?”

      “Yeah. That’s pretty weird, right?”

      “Did you want anything else?” He could feel one of his eyebrows arching far above the other. “Aside from that?”

      “Not really…no? I mean, why else would I go from hating his guts to admiring him if I didn’t have a crush on him.” 

For better or for worse, Yuri was beginning to paint a clearer picture of his his own feelings.

      “Yurio, do you think that, there’s maybe a chance that you just…don’t hate Yuuri any more?”

      “Why would I just not hate him anymore? That doesn’t make any sense! _Liking_ him doesn’t get me anywhere!”

      “Sometimes things change. You and Yuuri have gone through a difficult year together, training and competing, and I’d be surprised if you still came out of the Grand Prix feeling exactly as you did a year ago,” Victor set his drink aside, folding his hands on the table. “Have you considered that you might just finally be respecting him, instead of outright hating him?”

A vein in the teen's forehead outright twitched aggressively.

      “What’re you trying to say, old man?”

      “I’m trying to say that you might be a little….mixed up on the matter.”

Having seen Yurio fly into total apoplexy before, Victor had to admit that the conversation could be headed in that direction.

The failure to prepare him for this eventuality seemed to be, all in all, Victor's fault. He should have known that the best way to tell Yurio that he was wrong was to let him come to the conclusion himself, and to make sure to put him in a setting where he had to be mature about it. If he'd brought Yuuri to talk to him....well, too late for that now. At the present moment, he had to tame the dragon, because it was only a matter of time before the young man stormed off in a huff, and heaven only knew how long it would be before he'd talk to him again about _anything_ , let alone his actual human feelings.

      "I don't mean to, I don't know, minimize what you've been feeling!"

      "A bit late for that, coach!” He naturally unleashed a massive scowl in response. Victor supposed he'd really done it now.

      “…My point is, it's a good thing that you and Yuuri are friendly. And that you can respect him for his abilities and talents as a competitor,” He paused to sigh in exasperation. "Do you have anyone close to you who you could say the same about?"

      “Huh?”

      "I mean, do you know anyone in your life who you respect as a person, not only for their abilities, but as a friend, outside of skating."

This seemed to genuinely stump him, and Yurio paused a moment.

      "I mean, I guess Yakov. He's good, but he's more like...."

      "....An uncle, I know. Or some kind of ageless wizard.” This actually made the younger man chuckle a little, and Victor internally breathed a sigh of relief. As long as he could keep Yurio from storming off, feelings completely bruised, he might be able to salvage this mentorship yet. 

      "I was gonna say a babysitter, if that wouldn't mean I was the baby. I mean, also Otabek. He's...different though."

      "...Different?"

      "Yeah! Different." He seemed to consider the notion. "He just…I dunno. He gets it."

      “’Gets it'.”

      "Yeah old man! He's....I mean, he's a good person. He's really skilled too, and people don't realize it! He’s almost a more interesting skater than me."

Victor raised an eyebrow.

      “Almost more interesting? I don't think I've ever heard you compliment another skater so openly, _Koneko-chan_."

      “Ugh! It's true! I mean, I like him outside of skating too though. He doesn't talk too much, like you or Chris.” Victor pressed a hand to his breast in mock offense, but couldn't help but chuckle. He decided he could risk alienation in order to poke a bit more.

      "What else about him?"

      "He's really cool! We talk about music and fashion, you know. Not just skating." He inched upright in his chair, eyes light. "He's really smart, and even though he hasn’t won any major international competitions, he really knows what he's talking about with like, life and stuff. Have you seen his motorbike? And he DJs at a rock club,” Victor couldn't help but crack a half-smile. They were both pretty young, to be knowing much of anything about ‘life and stuff’. It made him feel truly old and tired just to think about riding around on a motorbike.

      "It's just....always calm, and it's better to hang out with him than with other people. Like I said, it's different."

He had to tread carefully here, if he was to avoid scaring Yurio off completely. The teenager certainly hadn't liked hearing that he was probably not eternally in love with Yuuri, and he certainly wouldn't take kindly to being told that he might, in fact ‘like’ Otabek more than he thought.

      "Yurio. Don't you think it might be easier to worry about getting to know someone like, say, Otabek than Yuuri?

      "I guess so, yeah. Definitely, actually."

      “Then maybe, you know, you should try and focus on getting to know him than worrying about whether you "like" Yuuri or not.” He braced for protests, but none came. In fact, Yurio looked positively pensive. “I promise, it’s not strange for you to grow to respect your competitors. How do you think Chris and I became such good friends?”

      “Witchcraft?”

      “Hah! Not quite. Just think about it, won’t you?” He couldn’t let Yuri get away without needling his pride, just a little bit. “…Besides, my fiancée is much too old for you.”

Right on cue, the teen heaved a truly impressive groan, covering his eyes with a hand.

      “Whatever. Just don’t tell him, okay?”

      He grinned in response, hand over his heart. “I’ll take it to my grave.” 

      “Sure, _coach_ ,” Yurio swept away from the cafe table, tossing out his crushed coffee cup with a lazy overhand. “Thanks, I guess. For listening. Not that you actually helped me with anything.”

      “Uh huh. Just be sure to say hello to Otabek for me!”

With one last glower, Yurio kicked open the cafe door, and was off into the late afternoon sun. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you 110% to my good pal Kendall, for literally feeding me this concept. Hope yall enjoy.


End file.
